Well, he might still take early retirement; but if not, you will be wasting a lot of management time and energy over the next seven years. It would be better to grasp the nettle, and try to get an improvement in behaviour, by way of the disciplinary process if necessary, with dismissal as the ultimate sanction. In one recent case, the Court of Appeal ruled that dismissal of an 'obnoxious' employee was not unfair, even though it was the way he did things, rather than what he did, that was causing problems. You will, however, have to be able to justify your actions if you take this route, so take legal advice.
